It's officially been eight months since I sent my original query/partial to Harlequin. Six months since they requested the full. And one month since I received an update letter letting me know I was on top of the editor's to be read pile. This wait is not out of the ordinary and compared to some agents/publishers, not even a drop in the bucket. I know these editors and agents have crazy workloads, so I totally understand why it takes so long.
However, can I just admit that the wait is KILLING me? I try not to think about it. I blog, I work on my WIPs, I critique, I enter contests, I stay busy. However, it's always there, niggling at the back of my brain. Every time the phone rings or I check the mail, it's there. I try not to get my hopes up, try to keep perspective, but it's hard.
This is basically an exclusive submission. The other places I would send this manuscript are limited because it's category length. So if Harlequin turns me down, I'll have to revisit the manuscript and beef up the length before sending it out to anyone else. Therefore, I have eggs-in-one-basket syndrome at the moment, which makes the wait even more excruciating because if it ends in a "no", I will be at square one again in the querying process.
So that's my confession. Patience is not my virtue.
I guess this experience is a good lesson for me because I know that if I'm lucky enough to make this my profession--it's all about the waiting. And I know that it's a lot quicker for an editor/agent to say "no" than to say "yes", so I try to convince myself that the wait is a good thing. :) Nothing like good ol' fashioned rationalization, right?
So, how about you? What do you do to get through the waiting process? Are you able to block the pending queries/partials/fulls out of your mind or is the thought always swimming around your brain?
!!!Just realized I totally whiffed Beta Club today. With the Memorial Day holiday (and my depleted brain cells from a weekend of stomach flu for all members at the Griffin household), I had it in my head today was Monday. The Beta Club entry that was supposed to go up today will go up on Thursday. Apologize for any confusion.!!!!